Study abroad and Pre-Med? Possible?

cellardweller
Wed, 02 Jan 2008 15:51:53 +0000

ginnyvere:

My D is facing a similar situation to yours. She is currently a freshman at MIT and has a unique opportunity to spend junior year at Cambridge University. She will have met all premed requirements by the end of sophomore year and would take the MCATs before going abroad. An issue of concern is that any grades from Cambridge University would not be included in her MIT GPA and transcript and therefore the med schools will only see 3 semesters of grades (MIT has P/F first semester). She would hate to give up the opportunity but does not want to seriously jeopardize her applications. There is obviously the option of delaying the med school application process by another year, but since she may be looking at MD/PhD programs she is not very eager to make her studies even longer.

How did the med schools you applied to view your year abroad? Does an international experience provide any advantage at all or is just an extra hassle?